Divine and wondrous souls,

Outcome 3 describes another significant task accomplished writers must master – to create complex, arguable, and original claims that matter in academic contexts. Achieving this outcome involves making a claim that is appropriately complex and explores a line of inquiry, clearly outlining the stakes of the argument (why it is significant), analyzing evidence and using it to support the main argument, considering multiple points of view and counterclaims, and utilizing a clear and effective method of organizing and transitioning between ideas. In other words, the writer must make lucidly outline his or her main argument, support it with proper evidence, and clearly explain why the argument is worth considering. This outcome is important for writers to achieve because presenting solid arguments and explaining their significance will capture the reader’s attention, and using ample evidence will increase the argument’s credibility. Equally important, using a clear organizational strategy will present the writer’s ideas in a more readable manner.

My 3^rd major paper best embodies outcome 3 through its presentation of a complex and analytic claim. The main argument, that in The Ninety-Ninth Bride “Catherine F. King incorporates and emphasizes the central theme of women’s empowerment” and that this theme “[reflects] women’s historical inferiority to men in the real world” (Mititean 3) is complex and debatable, and established upon a line of inquiry about the role and portrayal of women in the text.

On pages 5 and 6 of the paper, I attempt to clearly outline the stakes of the argument. First I address what I believe to be the author’s purpose in including the theme of women’s empowerment – to “bring the long-standing issue of women’s inferiority to the reader’s attention” (Mititean, 5). This shows the stakes of my main argument, because it addresses a past (and modern) social situation in which women have been lower on the social hierarchy than men. Throughout this section I explain how the theme of women’s inferiority manifests within the text of The Ninety-Ninth Bride and finally I observe that “[w]omen’s social inferiority to men is relatively modern and an issue seldom recognized nor addressed during the period that One Thousand and One Nights was written” (Mititean 6), which also contributes to the importance of the argument because it addresses the change in attitudes toward women’s inferiority since the time that the original One Thousand and One Nights was written.

This paper analyzes the content of The Ninety-Ninth Bride to determine the presence of the themes of women’s inferiority and women’s empowerment, examining two specific passages in the text as evidence to support its main argument. The paper establishes its own point of view in the argument, and maintains this position by also considering a possible counterargument and refuting it. On page 3, I explicitly address possible counterarguments that “the theme of women’s empowerment […] is not the author’s primary focus” and that the author instead “intended to shift the reader’s attention more toward other components of the story” (Mititean 3). Immediately after this, I refute the counterargument by stating that The Ninety-Ninth Bride contains significantly more elements of women’s empowerment and inferiority than elements of fantasy (Mititean, 3) and support this with the subsequent sections of the paper that examine two passages that epitomize the theme of women’s empowerment.

Lastly, the paper uses a clear organizational strategy. It begins with the thesis in the introductory paragraph to give direction to the paper, then addresses a possible counterargument before analyzing two different passages from The Ninety-Ninth Bride which together epitomize the themes of women’s inferiority and women’s empowerment. I find this mode of organization effective because the discussion of the two passages can be used to refute the counterargument I addressed. Finally, I include an explanation of my poem adaptation at the end of the paper, which makes the most sense because the poem is based off one of the passages I discuss earlier.

I have attached my third paper, which I hope (as with my previous two) you enjoy and accept my explanations of the third outcome.

With this final paper, I present my final gift to you. Three more pieces of writing to add to your collection. I hope it will keep you engaged and continue to pique your interest in the writings of mankind.

Although, I truly hope that this experience does not lead you to believe that anyone you hold captive will gladly pull a few essays out of thin air.

I thank you kindly for your patience and for letting me leave peacefully. I find dragon-kind truly fascinating and I thank you again for such an opportunity to observe your ways and share you with my own. However, I must now be off.

-        An unwary traveler